Shot Through the Heart
by alienyouthct
Summary: Fierce, independent, and a consummate lover of nature, Merida finds herself needing to answer one pressing question: how much does she enjoy the cold?
1. Chapter 1

Title: _Shot Through the Heart  
_Author: JoeHundredaire  
Rating: R/FR18.  
Disclaimer: Elsa, Merida, Anna, and any other characters from either _Frozen_ or _Brave_ are the property of Walt Disney Animation Studios. The title of the story is drawn from a Bon Jovi song, and I presume he owns that. Either that, or a songwriter he paid well enough for usage rights owns it. At any rate? Not mine, don't sue, and so forth and so on.  
Summary: Fierce, independent, and a consummate lover of nature, Merida finds herself needing to answer one pressing question: how much does she enjoy the cold?  
Joe's Note: I'm not even going to lie, I totally wrote this because my wife wanted to do some princess-on-princess fan art for her DeviantArt gallery, and told me that writing an accompanying story would allow me to exercise some degree of creative control over said art. Cue Queen Elsa visiting DunBroch.  
Dedications &amp; Thanks: To Nicholas, Alexander, Thomas, Koby, Wil, Tracy, Christopher, Mitch, and Jess for sponsoring me on , and making it easier for me to spend more of my time writing.

* * *

"Now, I know this is a big responsibility, but just know that we have faith in you and-"

"You're repeating yourself, Elinor. Again. I'm pretty sure she knows that it's a very important task. It's an entire kingdom, of course running it is a big responsibility. Stop telling her that over and over and over again before she panics and won't let us leave."

"Fergus!"

"What? I don't know what you're planning on doing for the next year, but we're coming into prime hunting season. I want to get to the lodge and settle in."

Princess Merida NicFhearhgais of DunBroch sighed and shook her head as her parents continued to bicker back and forth. The fact that they were even willing to consider taking a year or so off and leaving the throne in her hands showed how far she'd come. Well, her father would have agreed to it years ago. Her mother probably still didn't think she was ready. But that she was ready enough in her mother's eye that her father could talk her into it… that was progress. "He's right, Mum. I can handle this. The kingdom has been calm ever since Mor'du was killed. The worst thing you've had to deal with was a pair of farmers arguing over who got the foals when one's stallion laid with the other's mare. So go. Relax. You've earned it. I promise not to go to war, start a feud with a neighboring clan, or burn the castle down while you're gone. Or let the boys burn the castle down."

Taking a deep breath, Elinor slowly exhaled before nodding. "You're right. It's just… hard to admit that your children are growing up, I suppose. The next thing I know, the triplets will be ready to go out into the world and make names for themselves too." Darting forward, she pulled Merida into a tight hug before pulling back a bit and holding her at arm's length. "Just… promise not to be too hard on the delegation from Arendelle when they arrive. Your father may have overstepped his bounds a bit, but they're not to blame for that."

What?

"What?"

"…Fergus, darling." Releasing Merida, Elinor turned her head and narrowed her eyes as her husband began to shift from side to side, doing his best to look anywhere but her. "You promised me that you would tell her."

"I promised you that I'd tell her when the time was right."

"And when was that going to be, then?"

"Now, of course. So I can make my escape right afterward." Chuckling nervously, Fergus reached up to rub at the back of his neck. "We… may have agreed to another kingdom's proposal to send a delegation to negotiate an alliance with DunBroch." He glanced over at Elinor, who continued to glare at him. "…and their monarch might happen to be as single as you are, so that might have been mentioned in our reply to them." The glare continued. "And most of the messages we exchanged after that."

Merida groaned and buried her face in her hands. Suddenly, her mother's insistence that 'a lady doesn't bring weapons to formal events' made a lot more sense. It wasn't about appearances during the handoff of power and her parents' departure; after all, the entire kingdom knew what she was really like. No, Elinor had been worried that Merida might put an arrow - or three - into her father as they rode off. She was right to worry, too. "So you're trying to sell me off again, is that it? Like with Dingwall, Macintosh, and MacGuffin?"

That earned her a shake of her father's head, then a nod, and then a shake again. "Trust me, lass, this is nothing like that mess. Nothing at all." Fergus paused for a moment and chuckled before shaking his head one last time. "Just keep an open mind, okay? Officially, they're looking for new friends after cutting ties with a long-time ally over… I'm not sure why. Probably should have asked, eh? Anyway, that's the reason they're coming and what you need to focus on; just because DunBroch is at peace now doesn't mean it always will be, and they could be powerful allies. You taking a liking to their monarch would make that all the easier, but if it doesn't happen? I won't be upset."

"When… no, if I marry? It will be for love, Father. We've been over this." Merida's eyes bounced from Fergus to Elinor and back, and then she raised an eyebrow. "Or do I need to find a way to turn you into a bear too?"

Fergus held his hands up in surrender. "Och! I meant it! I agree, follow your heart. And if your heart doesn't take you in that direction, that's fine. At least try and make friends, though. This is someone you might be working with for years to come, after all." Turning away, he began making his way over to where the servants had a pair of horses waiting for Fergus and Elinor. Just as Merida made to return to the castle, her father's last words reached her ears. "Eh, I tried. If she doesn't like the queen, though, I hear their princess is just as pretty."

This was getting to be a bit too common for her tastes, but… what?

* * *

Queen Elsa Agdardóttir of Arendelle found herself standing at the prow of the _Ormrinn Langi_ as the ship carefully navigated the bay, slowly but surely growing closer to Castle DunBroch. The design was… interesting, she decided in the interest of politeness, but these were a people far more accustomed to war than her own. Function would matter to them more than form. That being said, she had no desire to stay in it any longer than strictly necessary. If King Fergus's heir was indeed as wonderful as he was made out to be, perhaps Elsa could find a nice little spot nearby on which to create a replica of her castle on the North Mountain. Or hopefully bring him back to Arendelle with her.

It felt so very strange to be pondering love, Elsa mused, or rather pondering marriage; there didn't necessarily need to be love for that, although she would greatly prefer it. Growing up in near-complete solitude, things like that had become mere fantasies to her. She couldn't even see her sister face-to-face; how could she possibly meet someone with whom she'd spend the rest of her life? By the time her coronation rolled around, she had resigned herself to a life of loneliness… and yet a mere year later, here she stood in completely different circumstances. She could control her powers. She could be around her sister without fear. The castle was alive again. She could finally live again.

Which had led to Elsa's current situation. With their flighty young princess unable to settle upon a suitor - which Elsa was fine with, to be honest, having been only slightly more fond of Kristoff than she was of Hans - the people of Arendelle were clamoring for their queen to settle down and start a family like all the kings and queens before her. It wasn't an entirely unreasonable request, she had to admit, when hers was the seat through which all power flowed in Arendelle. Failing to produce an heir would lead to needless complications upon her death, especially if Anna likewise failed to start a family. And… well, she wasn't entirely opposed to the idea of having children. Not for a few years to come, of course, but someday.

So here she was, personally leading the delegation to DunBroch instead of allowing Anna - or even Kai - to handle the matter in her stead. Turning to the captain of the longship, Elsa nodded in the direction of the approaching docks before raising one hand and letting her magic swirl around it. "Would you mind terribly if I went on ahead of you?" The man chuckled softly before shaking his head, and Elsa found herself smiling. Contrary to what her father had thought, the people had adjusted rather quickly to the idea of a queen with strange powers, and these days Elsa found herself missing the sense of awe that her powers had once inspired. Oh, she still got the wide-eyed looks from children when she showed off, but it wasn't the same. And so if life was going to hand her the perfect chance to show off… well, she was just going to have to take it. "In that case, Captain, I'll see you soon."

Deftly hopping up onto the edge of the hull, Elsa flexed her legs and launched herself out over the water. Thrusting her hands downward, the blonde unleashed her powers and created a round disc of ice to land on, smiling as it bobbed lightly under her weight before stabilizing. Looking back over her shoulder, she found her sister leaning over the side of the ship, mouth working as she shouted something that was drowned out by the captain barking orders and the men responding. Offering Anna a cheerful wave, Elsa turned and strode off toward the shore, a bridge of ice appearing in front of her as she walked.

Much to Elsa's disappointment, her display didn't seem to affect the small envoy awaiting her on the shore. Even creating an ornate set of stairs to bring herself up from water level to the end of the dock failed to make them so much as bat an eyelash. In a last, desperate measure to elicit a response, the blonde made a show out of shifting from the more casual dress she'd worn on the ship to a replica of her coronation gown that was done entirely in blue tones… complete with icy tiara. Nothing. But while she was admittedly disappointed, Elsa also found herself curious… what had these people seen in their lives that she didn't even merit a raised eyebrow? Forcing a smile, she drew herself up as one of the men stepped forward to greet her. "Welcome to the Kingdom of DunBroch, Queen Elsa of Arendelle. If you'd be so kind as to accompany us to the games field, Princess Merida regrets that she cannot be here to meet you in person but did not wish to miss her daily workout with the Bana-Ghaisgeach."

"And I would hate to take… her… from such an important activity." Not wanting to immediately confront the huge, glaring issue that was facing her, Elsa opted to deflect with a question geared toward answering a question almost as important to her. "Just out of curiosity, I noticed that nobody reacted to my… abilities."

The corner of the man's mouth ticked upward at that. "With all due respect, milady, our queen was turned into a bear several years ago. So were the wee princes. Before being returned to normal, Queen Elinor fought the dreaded Mor'du to the death and the specter of a long-dead prince emerged from his corpse. You are strange, yes, but being able to create ice at will is by no means the strangest thing that we have seen here in DunBroch."

Elsa's eyebrows shot up to her hairline at the reply, and she let out a disbelieving chuckle. "I… I see. I'll keep that in mind. In that case, lead the way, kind sir. We mustn't keep the princess waiting." The man bowed before gesturing for her to follow him, his companions falling into formation around Elsa as they made their way up a winding path that was clearly designed to gain elevation as quickly as possible at the expense of comfort or the view. For a moment, she debated the wisdom of leaving without Anna before deciding that her sister could find her own way. Knowing Anna, she'd even manage to have some sort of fantastic adventure along the way. Probably meet a new suitor as well.

Behind her mask of pleasantness, though, Elsa's thoughts were racing as she struggled to address the reindeer in the ballroom. Namely that the prince she'd been entertaining thoughts of allowing to court her evidently didn't exist. She found herself mentally reexamining each and every piece of correspondence to come out of DunBroch, but King Fergus had been quite canny: every single reference had been to 'my heir' or 'the heir'. A technically genderless term even if 'heiress' was the preferred way to refer to a woman next in the line of succession, clearly meant to hide the fact that he was blessed with an eldest daughter instead of an eldest son, who presumably preferred the company of maidens. Which in turn left Elsa grappling with one last question.

Now what?

If she really was willing to accept the prospect of a loveless, politically-motivated marriage for the good of Arendelle, Elsa mused, did the gender of DunBroch's heir really matter? The more the blonde thought about it, a princess turned fellow queen might be more useful than a prince turned king when it came to ruling at her side. Between her father's decision to seal the castle to hide her parents and her parents' untimely death, neither Elsa nor Anna knew much about traditional 'queenly' duties. And while she tried her best, Elsa knew she still wasn't as in touch with her subjects as she could be. This… Merida… could help her with both of those things, and likely many others that she wasn't even thinking of at the moment. And she would likely be far less disgusting to share the royal suite with than a man, Elsa thought with a wrinkle of her nose, especially if Kristoff was anything to go by.

Reaching a plateau, Elsa followed obediently behind her guide as she was led across a large grassy field toward a series of round archery targets. Even from this distance, she could make out the 'draw and fire' motions of a traditional longbow, and Elsa promptly added another item to the list of ways that her people could benefit from an alliance with DunBroch. Unlike some of their neighbors, Arendelle lacked an archery tradition and so their only option for ranged combat was to buy crossbows from one of their allies, shove them into the hands of those willing to volunteer, and hope for the best. Then they grew close enough to pick out details on the individual archers, and Elsa's breath caught in her throat.

Even without the crown of her station, Princess Merida of DunBroch would have been unmistakeable and she was - in a word - magnificent. There was just something about the way she carried herself; that supreme self-confidence as she walked up and down the line formed by her students, barking out a mixture of orders, critiques, and compliments. It was intoxicating. Now that her eye was drawn, though, Elsa found herself unable to look away because… well, Merida was quite easy on the eyes. Her long and untamed mane of fiery red curls was unlike anything Elsa had ever seen before, setting off her pale skin and bright blue eyes. Even her unconventional choice of attire seemed attractive to the young queen, even if no woman in Arendelle - not even Anna - would dare wear a poet's blouse and leather trousers out in public. Then again, no woman in Arendelle could lead an archery class while simultaneously fending off random attacks from her guards with a sword that seemed to blink in and out of existence on demand.

Magnificent.

As her guide stepped forward, presumably to get Merida's attention, Elsa raised her hand to forestall him and then shook her head. Forcibly imposing herself upon the princess's routine would do nothing to win Merida over, but would instead create a terrible first impression on someone that Elsa hoped to make an ally of at the very least. A traitorous little part of her mind whispered that an alliance was indeed 'the very least' in this case, and that her interest in DunBroch's heir was quickly veering into purely personal territory. But while she was able to ignore the murmurings of a part of her mind that had long lay dormant, Elsa was unable to ignore Merida herself and so she simply stood there watching the princess in silence… or at least in silence until they were finally joined by other members of Elsa's delegation. An arm curled around her left bicep and Elsa reluctantly tore her gaze away from Merida, finding Anna standing at her side and smiling as she looked back and forth between her sister and the redhead. "For the first time in forever, there'll be magic, there'll be fun. For the first time in forever, I could be noticed by someone…"

"Anna…"

"And I know it is totally crazy, to dream I'd find romance… but for the first time in forever, at least I've got a chance!" Anna's grin widened as she leaned to one side and then the other, dodging little puffs of icy magic that Elsa shot her way with her free hand. After settling down, she leaned in and rested her head on her sister's shoulder as she eyed Merida. "Actually, on second thought? I'm not sure how I feel about that idea. She's even more capable of killing you than the last redhead that came near us."

"I seem to recall Hans being your terrible decision, Anna. I forbid you to marry him, remember?"

"Oh. Right. So… she's really something, isn't she?"

"On that, at least, we can agree." Even without having exchanged a word with the redhead, Elsa already knew that Merida was unlike anyone she'd ever met before… and she kind of liked that. She suddenly found herself eager to get to know the young woman, to find out what made her tick, to see if they were compatible or if this was just lust at first sight. And even if they were compatible, how would they handle jointly ruling two kingdoms so far apart? Compared to that, her sudden attraction to another member of the fairer sex seemed trivial. After all, this was technically the first time that she'd been attracted to anyone. Maybe she'd always been like Merida and just never known it? As her eyes drifted back to the redhead, a memory from her childhood drifted to the forefront of her mind and Elsa elbowed Anna gently in the ribs. "They say a princess is full of charm and grace, they say she always knows her place. They say a princess wears pink and frilly clothes, they say she never laughs and snorts milk out her nose. They say she's calm, they say she's kind, they say she never speaks her mind or freezes nanny's big behind. But you and me… we, we know better."


	2. Chapter 2

Joe's Note: I wrote the original _Shot Through the Heart_ as a Christmas present for my wife back in December 2014. While I always intended to write a sequel to it, I didn't really have a concrete idea until February of this year. Added a prompt-based entry to my to-do list for Femslash February because I've gotten a bunch of reviews asking me to continue this… and let's be honest, doing more adorable princess femslash is hardly a hardship for me. So it's time to saddle up and return to DunBroch to see how Merida and Elsa are doing with their lust at first sight. Or rather, Elsa's lust at first sight. We never did find out what Merida thought of her…  
Dedications &amp; Thanks: To Nicholas, Alexander, Howard, MJ, Daniel, Christopher, Kentucky Fried Dragon, Joseph, mpop, RileyWestfall, bloodylord, Luke, Zachary, Marc, Ziryo, Elliot, Crusifikz70, Timothy, Leigh, Jason, Chris, George, Koby, Ken, Thyatira, William, Invernos, Paul, Pat, Warren, Mitch, and Jess for sponsoring me on , and making it easier for me to spend more of my time writing.

* * *

Munching happily on an apple that she'd… borrowed… from the kitchens, Merida made her way across the courtyard toward where Angus was stabled. A flash of blonde made her pause, ducking back around the corner before peeking out. Sure enough, Elsa was standing in front of the open stall, engaged in a staring contest with the massive Shire stallion.

Merida still wasn't entirely sure what to make of the queen of Arendelle. Or rather, she wasn't sure what to make of the offer that she knew was hanging over both their heads. Elsa herself was amazing. She was kind, compassionate, well educated, quick witted… all the things a queen needed to be. The redhead was fairly certain that her mother would adore Elsa once they finally met; the blonde was the closest thing to a perfect ruler that Merida had ever met, maybe even more so than her mother. Given her personal experience with it, Merida had found Elsa's magic a bit off-putting to begin with but had quickly warmed to the blonde's abilities after hearing her story.

Heh. Warmed. And it was ice magic. She made a mental note to save that joke for when her father returned; he'd definitely get a kick out of it.

But while Elsa was an incredible person and an able ruler, the subtle offer that her father had made left Merida in an awkward position. For one, she hadn't really given any thought to marriage since the whole mess involving the heirs of Clans Dingwall, Macintosh, and MacGuffin. Hadn't really felt a need, to be honest; she was perfectly happy the way she was, single and free. Beyond that, though, was the larger problem of Elsa being a woman.

Not that there was anything wrong with being a woman who liked another woman. Out of the dozen-strong women that she was training as the Bana-Ghaisgeach, Merida knew of at least two couples. And she was well aware of the rumors that swirled around her, given her rejection of three clan heirs coupled with the company that she kept. But she wasn't one. Or at least she hadn't thought herself one. Then she'd met Elsa.

Which wasn't to say that she thought that Elsa had 'made' her interested in women or some such nonsense. That would be ridiculous. Perhaps it was fairer to say that Merida still wasn't interested in women, but she was interested in a woman. She hadn't awoken one morning with a new interest in old friends or anything, but there was something about Elsa that Merida found appealing in a very different way. Others, she found pretty in the same way as a well-crafted vase or a gleaming new sword. With Elsa… there was that, but also more. Was this what it was like to be attracted to someone?

And if it was, what was she supposed to do about it? What little her mother had covered about courting had involved one man and one woman, and mostly consisted of instructions on how to react to various things he might do to woo her. Should she simply… do those things to Elsa? Were women from Arendelle even courted the same way as the women of DunBroch? Did Elsa even want to be courted, or was she here solely to negotiate an alliance?

Wait a second. Merida had climbed the Crone's Tooth and drunk from the Fire Falls, just like the ancient kings of DunBroch. Outsmarted her parents and the heads of three other clans to prevent herself from getting sold off to one of her suitors like a particularly fine heifer. Come face to face with Mor'du and… well, she hadn't defeated him, that had been her mother. But she'd lived to tell that tale. That was more than many people could say. She could do anything she set her mind to, including courting a queen.

Assuming she wanted to court a queen.

She did kind of want to court a queen, to be honest.

"So she's a bit of a fixer-upper, but this we're certain of…" Letting out a shriek of surprise as someone pressed up against her right side, Merida whirled around to find the queen's very odd younger sister grinning widely at her. "You can fix this fixer-upper up with a little bit of love!"

That was something that Merida was still getting used to: both sisters seemed to have a thing for breaking into song randomly. She'd even caught Anna trying to harmonize with one of the castle's bagpipe players the day before. Not that their voices weren't lovely, because they were… but it was still very odd to her. Then the words themselves processed and Merida found herself looking back and forth warily between Anna and where Elsa stood near Angus. "If you want me to like your sister, should you really be calling her that?"

"We both are, really. I know she told you about how we both grew up; think about what that did to us. We never even really had friends, and we certainly didn't have boyfriends. Or girlfriends for that matter." Leaning against Merida, Anna lowered her voice conspiratorially. "I think she had it the worst, though. I would always dream of the day that the doors to the castle would open, and I could go out into the world. But she was convinced that she had to stay as isolated as possible to protect people from her powers."

Merida grimaced; she couldn't even imagine what that must have been like. Her mother had spent her entire life grooming her for the day when she'd ascend to the throne but as exasperating as some of those lessons had been, she'd never wanted for company. Her parents, eventually her brothers, the servants, random residents of DunBroch and the surrounding area… each and every day of her life had been full of people. Merida couldn't picture spending an entire day without interacting with someone… anyone… much less the weeks, months, and years that Elsa had endured. And… wait. Neither sister had dated? That was great news! Well, not that they'd grown up that way. That was terrible. But if Elsa had never been courted, she would be less likely to realize that Merida had no idea what she was doing!

…it also meant that it would be a case of the blind leading the blind, because neither of them knew what they were doing. Bugger.

Looking over at Elsa once more, Merida raised an eyebrow as she realized that the queen was still staring at poor Angus, who was starting to look distinctly uncomfortable with the scrutiny. "…she has seen one of those before, right? You don't come from a kingdom without horses, do you?"

"Hmm? Oh, yeah. I have a horse named Kjekk back home. Not going to lie, I was half-expecting him to pop up on the ship once we left. He's a bit of an escape artist; loves making trouble." Anna shook her head fondly before nodding in Elsa's direction. "I think she's fascinated by huge he is. I thought our fjord horses were big, but your horse is… maybe half again their size? He's a monster."

Merida grinned; Angus sure was something, all right. "He's my monster." Well then. She had absolutely no idea what she was doing, but doing something had to be better than doing absolutely nothing. Polishing off her apple, she pitched the core into a nearby pile of hay and wiped her hands clean on her dress before making her way over to Elsa. "You want to go for a ride on him?"

Starting a bit at the unexpected voice, Elsa brought one hand up to her chest before looking back and forth between Merida and Angus. "Oh! I would love to, but I'm not sure I could handle a horse this… he's huge! He's got to be as big as Sven!"

She had absolutely no idea who or what a 'Sven' was, but… okay? The blonde's words only made Merida's grin widen; this would be a perfect chance to show herself off on several different fronts. "Wait right here." Thankfully, she'd recently taken to storing her weapons with the rest of the Bana-Ghaisgeach's in a small shed that had been constructed near the front gates and so retrieving her bow and a quiver of arrows was far less time intensive than it would have been if she'd needed to return to her room. In no time at all, she was back and hopping up onto the stall wall, leaping onto Angus's back so she could guide him forward into the sun. Leaning down, she offered the wide-eyed Elsa a hand. "So. How about that ride?"

Pressed up against Merida's back with her arms wrapped snuggly around the redhead's waist, Elsa allowed herself to grin widely as Angus galloped through the woods. Merida was definitely trying to show off for her, which was almost definitely a sign of interest. Given that her experience with romance was non-existent and courtship wasn't exactly something that her parents had thought to cover before their death, she'd been at a loss as to how to turn her interest in Merida into something more. Thankfully, the redhead seemed willing to take up the slack for her.

Shifting, Merida drew her bow and nocked an arrow, making Elsa's eyes widen. Surely she didn't intend to… she did! The blonde let out a delighted laugh as Merida let her arrow fly, hitting the center of a target suspended over the middle of the path even as her horse continued to gallop along at full speed. A bit further down the trail, she fired a second arrow into a target stuck to the trunk of a tree, quickly preparing another arrow so that she could hit a target on the opposite side of the path only a few yards later.

A fourth arrow went into another hanging target and then Elsa decided that she wanted to get in on the fun. As Merida lined up her next shot, Angus leaping into the air to avoid a downed tree in the middle of the path, Elsa used her powers to conjure an ice arrow of her own. They fired at the exact same moment, the redhead's arrow landing among a dozen or so others in the end of a limbed bough just before its icy counterpart obliterated them all. That earned Elsa an approving look as Merida twisted her hips and leaned to one side, firing backward at… Elsa peeked back over her shoulder. The hanging target that Merida had hit before Angus's jump was still spinning, but now had two arrows sticking out of it instead of just one. Amazing.

Merida turned to face forward once more before spreading her arms wide and letting out an exultant cry, and Elsa burst into applause. Blushing faintly, Merida offered her companion a shyer smile before stowing her bow once more, leaning forward to grab Angus's reins. After treating the younger woman to a few more seconds of applause, Elsa scooted forward a few inches and wrapped her arms back around Merida's waist, settling in to enjoy the scenery now that the show was over.

On and on they rode, eventually emerging from the woods onto a grassy plain that Elsa would later learn that the locals referred to as a machair. But rather than turn toward the same coastline that the _Ormrinn Langi_ had sailed past on its way to DunBroch, Merida guided Angus over to where a series of towering rocky outcroppings loomed over the surrounding plains. The tallest was home to an awe-inspiring waterfall, which turned out to be their destination. Slowing her horse to a more relaxed trot, Merida looked back and forth several times before coaxing her stallion over toward a smaller outcropping. "This is the Crone's Tooth. I might be one of the only people alive who've climbed all the way up it, and I know I'm the first in at least two generations to drink from the Fire Falls like the ancient kings did."

"If you're trying to impress me, it's working." Elsa rested her chin on Merida's shoulder as she surveyed their destination, whistling softly. "Please do me the favor of keeping this a secret from my sister? She'd try to climb it too and if it went anything like her attempt to scale the side of the North Mountain… well, I'll need to be on hand to create snow and break her fall." Merida let out an endearing little chortle at that, causing Elsa to loose a giggle of her own before pointing past Merida at the taller outcropping. "Has anyone ever figured out where the water's coming from? Because it's obviously not a lake or river draining over the side…"

Shaking her head rapidly, Merida brought Angus to a halt before looking back at the blonde. "Nobody's ever tried climbing all the way to the top. I've thought about it a few times but… well, look at the thing. I'm brave but I'm not that brave." She scooted forward out of Elsa's arms before sliding down Angus's side, landing gracefully on the grass before turning and offering Elsa a hand. "Want to stretch your legs for a bit before we head back?"

Elsa nodded as she took the proffered hand gratefully, awkwardly dismounting the massive stallion with considerably less elegance than Merida. When the redhead didn't immediately release her hand, Elsa decided to be a bit daring and interlaced their fingers, tugging the smaller woman along beside her as she tried to get a better look at the Fire Falls. If climbing the Crone's Tooth was an achievement for Merida's people, and drinking from the waterfall was even rarer… how much would it elevate her standing in DunBroch if she could actually ascend to the top of the falls? And bring their future queen with her? Raising her free hand, she let wisps of magic dance around her fingers as she glanced over at Merida. "Do you want to see what's at the top?"

"Well of course, everyone does. But how…" Merida trailed off as her gaze dropped to Elsa's free hand, her eyes widening at the casual display of magic. "Since reaching the top isn't a competition of some sort, I suppose it's not technically cheating…"

* * *

Stepping off the icy platform that Elsa had created and then slowly grown to push them skyward, Merida's eyes widened. "So the stories are true, then. The Fire Falls truly are the work of the gods…"

How else could she explain what she was seeing? While the outcropping was large enough to be home to a significant pool of water at its top, it should have been drained in seconds or perhaps minutes at most by the torrent of water cascading down the outcropping's side. Instead, all but the water at the very edge of the pool appeared to be perfectly still, giving the appearance that nothing was draining away despite quite obvious evidence to the contrary. Who but the gods could do such a thing?

"Hmm. I wonder…" Brushing past Merida, Elsa flicked a bolt of her power into the water, creating a chunk of ice roughly the size of a Manhood Stone. She watched it bob there placidly, never moving so much as an inch toward where the water disappeared over the edge to form the Fire Falls. Growing braver, she approached the edge of the pool and dipped one foot in, then the other. "There's absolutely no current. I might as well be standing in a bath. Actually, if I stood in a bath without making sure my powers were completely dampened, it would freeze over in less than a minute. The water here is completely unaffected by me. If not a creation of the gods, then this is definitely the work of someone or something very powerful. Far more powerful than me."

Merida watched as Elsa slowly waded further into the pool, absently wiggling her foot out of one leather boot and then the other. As soon as that was done, she hiked her dress up and gave chase, splashing her way through the water to join Elsa. "I can't believe that I'm really up here. This is incredible. Nobody is going to believe that we really did this, but at least we'll know the truth. I… thank you, Elsa. If there's anything at all that I can do to- och!"

While there was a strong chance that it actually was a creation of the gods, the bottom of the pool was no more perfect than any other lake or pond that Merida had ventured into, and it proved as much by tripping her up with a large rock. The redhead's arms waved about wildly as she tried to regain her balance, and then the inevitable happened and she tipped forward. Closing her eyes, she resigned herself to her fate only to come to an abrupt stop as strong arms wrapped around her waist. Merida took a few deep breaths before opening her eyes, staring down in disbelief at the water that was a foot from her face. "I'm starting to hope that you might fall for me someday, but this is a bit more literal than I intended."

"Oh. Good. So you're interested in me too, then." Merida did her best to appear nonchalant as she twisted in Elsa's arms, turning so that she could look up at the bemused blonde. Her new position meant that a good foot or so of her hair was in the water, but she'd experienced worse. And it was far less wet than she could have been at the moment. "Just so you know, if our positions were reversed right now? I would probably try to kiss you. Or at least I'd be thinking about doing it. I'll admit that I don't know much about romance, but-"

The redhead found herself abruptly silenced as Elsa leaned down and pressed her lips against Merida's.


End file.
